The American Red Cross Bloodmobile will be set up on Monday, Sept. 13 from (Note time change) 2–7 p.m. at the American Legion Post 8 on Jeffress Boulevard in South Boston. Sponsors of the Monday Bloodmobile are lifelong friends, Arlene Dailey and Hazel Boyd who invite all eligible donors to come out and give the gift of life. Top, Ginger Weaver of the local American Red Cross Chapter, multi-gallon donor Doc Clark and Arlene Dailey, longtime Red Cross volunteer and board member. The Red Cross Bloodmobile will also be set up on Tuesday, Sept. 14 from noon-6 p.m. at the Mary Bethune Gym in Halifaxand will be sponsored by Virginia International Raceway. As an incentive for blood donors, a drawing will be held at the conclusion of the drive on Monday for lucky blood donors who will win race tickets for the Races at VIR on Oct. 8-10. VIR and the American Red Cross urge all eligible donors such as these two faithful blood donors, above, Earl Arrington and Page Wilkerson to donate a gift of life-saving blood.

Community Memorial Healthcenter will host a blood drive for Virginia Blood Services on Thursday, Sept, 23 from 1-5:30 p.m. in the Education Center and Friday, Sept. 24 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Bloodmobile next to the Emergency Room entrance. During our last blood drive we had 128 donors register and we collected 112 good units!! That was a record turn out and we hope to have a “repeat performance”!

According to the American Heart Association, 58,800,000 Americans have one or more types of cardiovascular disease, and nearly 5 million of those are living with congestive heart failure (CHF). CHF claims the lives of upwards of 250,000 patients per year. There are over 850,000 hospitalizations per year for CHF alone, and it is the single most frequent cause of hospitalizations in people 65 and older.